: Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation of the part hair plays in Orthodox Christian tradition! Most Americans have little awareness of Eastern Orthodoxy in its various forms. Of course, I have seen many Orthodox priests with long hair and untrimmed beards; they were wearing their habits (is that what you call them?), not 'civvies.' Perhaps some of the longhaired men I saw in street clothes were religious laymen as you suggest, or just everyday Greeks expressing their traditional piety.

: Yes, one does see a number of Orthodox and Maronite Catholic Christians among the Arabs of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, although in the PA they're supposedly getting scarce as the PA becomes more overly Islamist and the Christians feel ever-less comfortable there (although famously, Hanan Ashrawi, a minister in their government, is a Christian as is Arafat's widow). When I go up to Jerusalem, I see them of course: priests, monks and lay people.

: Many blessings to you, too! Again, thanks for chiming in!

: Don

Don,

Thank you for your kind words :). The term for the clerical garb one sees Orthodox Christian priests wearing (the black robes) is "cassock". In the United States, not all Orthodox Christian priests will wear them in public all day every day. In most majority Orthodox Christian countries, as well as the See of Jerusalem, one would most likely encounter a Priest or a Deacon wearing the black cassock. The reason for this is explained by the Priest in the parish where I go as the following. He says, "I wear cassock all the time because I cannot be one thing here (on the Church grounds) and in the community and another thing at home. I am priest, I do not stop being priest no matter where I go."

Thank you for the up-date regarding the treatment of the Orthodox in the Palestinian Authority. I can imagine with the tensions in the majority Muslim areas of the Middle East, that they could be being told to keep something of a low profile. One thing that I like about Orthodox Christianity, is that we are encouraged to remain faithful, but not to go shoving our faith in other people's faces in the normal course of our every day lives. If another person asks, say the truth, but do so lovingly and respectfully.